The Campaign of Chancellorsville eBook

“I have received your despatch, and reverently
unite with you in giving praise to God for the success
with which he has crowned our arms. In the name
of the people, I offer my cordial thanks to yourself
and the troops under your command, for this addition
to the unprecedented series of great victories which
our army has achieved. The universal rejoicing
produced by this happy result will be mingled with
a general regret for the good and the brave who are
numbered among the killed and the wounded.”

R.
E. Lee, General.

The following is equally characteristic:—­

HeadquartersarmyofthePotomac,campnearFalmouth,
Va., May 13, 1863.
To his Excellency, President of the United States.

Is it asking too much to inquire your opinion of my
Order No. 49?
If so, do not answer me.

XXXV.

Operationsofthecavalrycorps.

As was briefly related in the early part of this work,
Hooker issued orders to Gen. Stoneman, the commanding-officer
of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, on
the 12th of April, to move the succeeding day for
the purpose of cutting the communications of the enemy.
The order read as follows:—­

I am directed by the major-general commanding to inform
you that you will march at seven o’clock A.M.,
on the 13th inst., with all your available force,
except one brigade, for the purpose of turning the
enemy’s position on his left, and of throwing
your command between him and Richmond, isolating him
from his supplies, checking his retreat, and inflicting
on him every possible injury which will tend to his
discomfiture and defeat.

To accomplish this, the general suggests that you
ascend the Rappahannock by the different routes, keeping
well out of the view of the enemy, and throwing out
well to the front and flank small parties to mask
your movement, and to cut off all communication with
the enemy, by the people in their interest living
on this side of the river. To divert suspicion
it may not be amiss to have word given out that you
are in pursuit of Jones’s guerillas, as they
are operating extensively in the Shenandoah Valley,
in the direction of Winchester. He further suggests
that you select for your place of crossing the Rappahannock,
some point to the west of the Alexandria and Orange
Railroad, which can only be determined by the circumstances
as they are found on the arrival of your advance.